Kolumba

Kolumba is the art museum of the archbishopric of Cologne. As combination of place, collection and architecture it allows the visitor to experience two millennia of western culture in one building housing art from late antiquity to the present. The architecture combines the ruins of the late Gothic church St. Kolumba, the chapel “Madonna in the Ruins” (1950), the unique archaeological excavation (1973-1976), and the new building designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The warm grey brick of the massive building unite with the tuffs, basalt and bricks of the ruins. A secret garden, stone ruins, a uniquely dense archaeological site: the ruins of the gothic church in the center of rebuilt Cologne are the most impressive symbol of the city’s almost complete destruction during the Second World War. Kolumba allows visitors to immerse themselves in the presence of their memories and offers them their own experiences on their way.